Intermittent feeler in transferrer



May 10 1927. {5272826 H. u; BLANCHARD INTERMITTENT FEELEVR INTRANSFERRER Filed Oct. 26, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheetl Patented May 10, 1927.

UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD iL. ORA-RD, JOF MILITBU RY,,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NQR 1T0'GROMPTQN 8r, KNOWLES 1100M WGREKS, F 'WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, .ACORPORATION iOF MASSACHUSETTS.

inirnnmrr'rnnr FEELEB 2m TZRANSFERRER.

Application filed october 26, 1925. Serial No. 64,756.

This invention relates to weft detecting mechanism for looms and it isthe principal object of the invention to provide means for renderingintermittently operative the type of weft detector which is mounted in aregularly reciprocating'transferrer arm. I

In Patent No. 1,372,316 there is shown a multi-color weft replenishingmechanism having a regularly reciprocating transferrer JH arm which ismoved down on detecting beats of the lay while the shuttle is under themagazine. A weft detector is mounted on the 'transferrer and detects thecondition of yarn'in the active shuttle on the downward 15 stroke of thetransferrer arm. means of additional mechanism the tran'sferrer isefiective on its upward stroke to indicate weft exhaustion andthemagazine is set for replenishment on a subsequent pick. I

In this type of detector it is found that when very fine yarn is beingwoven the detector is moved downwardly to strike the surface of the yarna great number of times before replenishment is called for resulting 25in fraying of the yarn and itisra further o'bjectof my invention to'hold the detecting surface out "of contact with the yarn except atperiodic intervals so as to avoid undue wear. 7

Patent No. 1,551,219 relates to the same general type of detector andshows a yield i'ng actuator arm which engages one end of the'lever onthe transferrer-on which the detector is mounted. It is a moreparticular object of my invention to provide for holding this actuatingarm inoperative while an abundance of yarn is present but rendering thesame operative on each detecting beat ofthe lay when a small amount ofWeft remains on the bobbin.

Immediately after indication of exhaustion a shuttle might becon'oeinactive but the transferrer mus't c'ontinuet'o receive its periodicdescents to be ready to replenish the depleted shuttle when it again"becomes active. order that the -detector will not strike the yarn onits regular :descents Wit-h the 'tran'sferrer it is so held "as normally"to be above the surface of :a full bobbin and will not engage the.surface 'to bedetecteil unless moved the actuator arm. v lVith' theseand other objects in view which will appear as thie descriptionproceeds; invention resides in the combination and E11- rangement o'fparts "hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein I have shown the form of actuatingarm illustrated in the second patent above mentio'ned,-

Fig. 1 is an end elevation taken from the interior of the loom of amu'lti-color weft replenishing mechanism having ,my invention appliedthereto, 1

IF 2 is an enlarged section online 2-2 of Fig, '1 showing the detectorin normal position when the transferrer arm is at the bottom of itsstroke,

F 3 is a fragmentary view looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 2and showing the relation of the actuating arm and the detector carryinglever when the amount of weft present is small enough to requiredetect'ion on each alternate beat of the lay,

"Fig. l isa View sim ilar'to Fig. '3 but with the actuating arm shownlooked in in0pera 'tive positive, a condition desirable when anabundance of yarn is present in the active shuttle,

vFig. 5 is-top plan view looking in the direction ofarrow 5, Fig. 1,

F 6 is a vertical section on line 66 of Fig. 1, and

fFigf'Z a fragmentary detail view showing a portion of the actuator armand holding 'de'tent when said arm is locked in, inoperative position asshown in dotted lines in l ig. 1 and full lines in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings it will be seen that I have provided amagazine frame 10 having a transferrer arm 11 pivotallymounted on a stud12 secured to the frame in any approved manner and receiving a downwardmovement on cletect'ing picks by a suitably actuated rod "13 attachedthereto. Vertical slides jl l are con-trolled b e longitudinally andangularlyh ovable color slide 15 which isrmoved longitudinallyby a bellcrank lever 16 pivoted at 17 'to a fixed part of the strum ture andactuated by a rod 18 connected with the pattern mechanism :or box motionso as to .keep the color slide '15 in step with the active shuttle.

A stud 19 is fixed to the magazineand has 1ceseiy;rnouutea;ther bellcrankflever 20 the horiz ntal arm offwhi'chisemne ted by s of alin'k21x0 .tl ecolor slid 15 to. give the latter an upward movement everyal'ternate beat of the lay while the active shuttle is on the oppositeside of the loom. The depending arm of lever is provided with a cam face22 which cooperates with a plunger 23 slidably mounted in a portion ofthe transferrer arm which extends substantially parallel to the shuttle.

By referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that a lever 24 is pivoted as at25 to the transferrer arm and has pivotally mounted on one end thereofas at 26 a detector arm 27 the detecting surface 28 of which is oiisetvertically from the pivot 26. A rod 29 is interposed between thedetector arm 27 and the plunger 23 and is surrounded by a coil spring 30interposed between a shoulder on the rod and the transferrer arm. Saidspring 30 serves to hold the detector arm in the normal position shownin Fig. 2, adjusting screw 31 being interposed between the detector armand the lever 24 to limit outward movement of the detector underinfluence of spring 30.

The other end of arm 24 is provided with an ofiset lug 32 seen in Figs.1, 2, 3, and 4 and is so positioned as to have contact wit-h anactuating arm 33 as the transferrer nears the bottom of its motion,provided said arm 33 is in raised position. A screw 34 extends throughthe arm 24 and engages a part of the transferrer arm, the lever 24 beingheld yieldingly in the position shown in Fig. 2 by the spring 30. Saidyielding arm 33 is pivoted as at 35 to a fixed part of the replenishingmechanism and is connected as at 36 to an upwardly extending rod 37which extends through a boss 38 on the frame 10. Upper and lower collars39 and 40, respectively, are secured to the rod 37 and spring 41 isinterposed between .the boss 38 and collar 39 to hold said rod andactuating arm yieldingly in raised position. Collar limits upwardmovement of the actuating arm under influence of spring 41. Rod 37 isformed with teeth 42 and 43, respectively, which define a notch 44. Aplunger 45 is guided in fixed bosses 46 and is held in contact with oneor both of said teeth by spring 47.

The rear end of the arm 33 is offset and pivotally connected as at 48 toan upwardly extending link 49 which has a slot 50 receiving a pin 51 onpawl 52 pivoted on an arm 53 at 54. Said arm 53 is secured to the colorslide and moves angularly therewith to give the pawl 52 a back and forthmotion and also moves said pawl so that the same is brought intooperative relationship with respect to one or another of a plurality ofratchet wheels 55, 56, 57, and 58, one ratchet wheel being provided foreach color of the magazine. Said ratchet wheels are the same and arefreely rotatable upon a stud 59 secured to and extending rearwardly fromthe frame 10, Each ratchet is provided with a series of teeth 60 and onehigh tooth 61. A. spring detent 62 may be provided for each ratchetwheel to prevent retrograde movement. Secured to and extendingrearwardly from frame 10 is an arm 63 on which the actuating pawl 52 mayrest. Said arm 63 is provided with a plurality of humps 64 (Fig. 1)located between the ratchet wheels and so disposed that as the colorslide 15 moves longitudinally the pawl will be raised. The stroke of thepawl 52 is somewhatgreater than the distance between adjacent teeth andthe pawl is formed substantially as shown in Fig. 6 to allow the hightooth 6 to lie thereunder when said pawl is acting on the toothimmediately in front of the high tooth.

Assuming that the active shuttle has very little yarn left therein lug32 will be engaged by actuator arm 33 as the transferrer arm, descendsand the detector 27 will be moved against the yarn N of the bobbin B.Under these conditions the actuator arm 33 remains at rest, being heldin raised position by the combined action of springs 41 and 47 anddetector 27 has a detecting movement on alternate picks.

W hen the weft is. depleted detector 27 will slide along the bobbin tomove plunger 23 to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 to set themagazine as set forth in the aforesaid patents. lVhen the full bobbin isin the active shuttle detector 27 will not be able to move down very farand lug 32 will receive a correspondingly large motion to depress arm 33and cause plunger 45 to enter notch 44 and hold said actuating arm 33down as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. As plunger 45 enters notch 44arm 33 is given an additional downward motion and on sub sequent picksis too low to engage lug 32 to move detector 27 against the yarn. Saiddetector is therefore held out of action as long as arm 33 is depressed.

The actuating arm 33 is periodically restored to actuating position bythe action of the ratchet wheels and pawl 52. On every non-detectingpick the color slide 15 will be rocked in a manner as set forth in theaforesaid patents to give said pawl a movement to the right as shown inFig. 6 and will move the ratchet corresponding to the active shuttleahead with a step by step motion. The large tooth 61 will ultimatelycome under the pawl as shown in Fig. 6 and on the return movement thepawl will be raised and pin 51 will lower link 49 to resetthe actuatingarm to the full line position shown in Fig. 1. It is to be understoodthat when arm 33 is downpin 51 rests in the bottom of slot 50. If anabundance of yarn is present the .arm 33 will again be moved outofactiom'but if a small amount of yarn is in the shuttle, the detector 27will move down far enough so that plunger 45 will not be able to enternotch 14 and the detector will therefore be operative on all detectingpicks.

If a full shuttle is to be followed in action by one nearly exhausted,it will be necessary to restore the arm 33 to operative position inorder that more frequent detection of the depleted shuttle may occur.This result is accomplished by the humps 64011 the arm As the activeshuttle changes there will be an endwise movement of the color slide andthe pawl, which moves with the slide, rises as it passes over one ormore of the humps. If thefarm '33 down, the rising of the pawl willrestore it to normal and if the said arm is already up, pin 51 will movedown in slot withoutcommunicating motion to arm 33 because of the factthat under thislatte'r condition pin 51 will be in the top of slot 50.

The useof a series of ratchet wheels, one for each shuttle, to measurethe picks laid by each shuttle is shown in cmp'endingapplicatio'n No.739,713 and forms no part 'of my invention, except that the pawl 52serves the double function of actuating the ratchets and also giving theindication to reset arm 33. p

My purpose in providing two spring devices each of which is effective toraise actuator arm 33, namely, the spring 41 and the spring plunger 45,is to permit the use. of the mechanism for weaving with relatively heavyyarn. When such a fabric is being Woven there is no necessity for rendering the detector intermittent and under such conditions the plui'iger4'5 will be moved to the lefta's "shown inFig. 1 and a -c'otter pin orother suitable holding device passed througl'r the hole formed in saidplunger and so placed as to hold the same away from the teeth 42 and 43so that the spring will on all detecting picks operate to hold theactuator arm raised. I do not Wish to be limited to the use of both 'ofthese devices inasmuch as the am action between the tooth 42 and theplunger 45 would serve to raise the actuator arm if spring e1 were notpresent provided of course that the connector 87 passed through itsguide 38.

Fro-m the foregoing it will he seen that :I have provided means forperiodically disabling the actuator arrn 33 to renderthe detector thetransfer-fer -'ineperative when an abundance of weftfis present "bu-tthat when the supply er wen- 11's depleted the actuator arm will becomeoperative and detector arm 27 will be moved down on every detecting beatof the lay. Also it will be seen that the actuator arm 33 is returned tonormal position every time there is a change in the active shuttle.Furthermore, it will be seen that the detector arm 27 is so positionedas to be above a full supply of weft when the transferrer arm is in itslowest position so that when the actuator arm 33 is in inoperativeposition no portion of the detecting mechanism will engage the bobbin.Having thus described my invention it will be apparent that changes andmodifications may be made therein by those'skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scop'c'of theinvention, and I do not'wish'to he limited to the details herein disclosed but what I claim is:I 1. In a weft detecting mechanism for lOOll'lS, a weftndetector, asupport for said "detector "to move the latter toward the Weft supply ondetecting beats of the loom, means normally at ricst to be operativelyconnected to the detector as the latter is moved toward connected withthe detector when a relatively large amount of yarn is present.

In a weft detecting mechanism for looms, a weft detector, 21 support forsaid detector to move the latter toward the weft supply on detectingbeats of the 100111, means normally at rest to he operatively connectedto the detector as the latter is moved toward the weft supply andoperative when so connected to move the detector into contact with theweft supply, a device to hold said means out of position to beoperatively connected with the detector when a relatively large amountof yarn is present, and mechanism to restore said means to the positionwhere the saine will be operatively connected to the detector. I

8. In 'a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm movable atregular intervals toward the supply of weft, a weft de tector mounted onthe transferr'er arm, means to actuate the detector as the transfe'rrera'rm moves toward the supply of weft, and a device to render said meansinoperative to actuate the detector when a relatively large amount ofweft is present.

4. In .We ft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm movable atregular intervals toward the supply of weft, a weft de tector mounted onthe transferrer arm, means to actuate the detector as the transferrerarm inoi' 'es toward the supply of weft, admin to render said meansinoperative to actuate the detector when a relatively large amount ofweft "is present, and mechanism to said ineansto operative position withrespect to the detector.

5. In a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm movable atregular intervals toward the supply of weft, a weft detector mounted onthe transferrer arm'and movable toward the supply of weft with thetransferrer arm, an actuator for the detector to render the detectoroperative to detect when said actuator is in operative position withrespect to the detector, and a device to move said actuator out ofoperative relationship with respect to the detector when a relativelylarge amount of weft is present.

6. in a weft replenisl'iing loom having a transferrer arm movable atregular intervals toward the supply of weft, a weft detector mounted onthe transferrer arm and movable toward the supply of weft with thetransferrer arm, an actuator for the detecposition out of operativerelation with the detector, and mechanism to return said actuator tooperative relationship with respect to the detector.

7. In a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm movable atregular intervals toward the supply of weft, a detector mounted on thetransferrer arm and movable toward the weft supply as the transferrerarm moves down but held normally out of contact with the weft supplywhen the transferrer is nearest said supply, an actuator to move thedetector against the supply of weft, and means to render said actuatorineffective to actuate the detector when a relatively large supply ofweft is present.

8. In a weft replenishing loom having a weft supply to be detected and atransferrer movable at periodic intervals toward the weft supply, a weftdetector carried by the transferrer and movable therewith toward theweft supply, and means controlled by the weft to render said detectoroperative to detect every detecting beat of the loom when a relativelysmall amount of yarn is present and to detect at less frequent intervalswhen a relatively large amount of yarn is present.

9. In a weft detector for multi-shuttle looms, a weft detector, asupport for said detector to move the latter toward the weft supply oneach detecting beat of the loom, means to be operatively connected tothe detector when the latter approaches the weft supply and operativewhen so connected to move the detector against the weft supply, a deviceto hold said means out of position to be operatively connected to thedetector when a relatively large amount of weft is present, and aplurality of controlling elements each effective to act on said deviceto cause the same to restore the means to operative position withrespect to the detector, said controlling elements each being effectiveto act on the device after a predetermined number of beats of the loomonly.

10. In a multi-color weft replenishing mechanism having a transferrerarm movable toward the weft supply on every detecting beat of the loom,a weft detector mounted on the transferrer armand movable therewithtoward the weft supply, a support for said detector to move the lattertoward the weft supply on each detecting beat of the loom, means to beoperatively connected to the detector when the latter approaches theweft supply and operative when so connected to move the detector againstthe weft supply, a device to hold said means out of position to beoperatively connected to the detector when a relatively large amount ofweft is present, and a plurality of controlling elements each effectiveto act on said device to cause the same to restore the means tooperative position with respect to the detector, said controllingelements each being effective to act on the device after a predeterminednumber of beats of the loom only.

11. In a multi-color weft replenishing loom having a series of shuttlesany one of which may become active and having also a transferrer armmovable on every detecting beat of the loom toward the weft supply, aweft detector mounted on the transferrer arm and movable therewithtoward the weft supply of each shuttle, an actuator to be operativelyconnected to the detector as the latter approaches the weft supply andeffective to move said detector against the weft supply, a device torender said actuator inoperative to act on the detector when arelatively large amount of weft is present, and mechanism to act on saiddevice to cause the same to restore the actuator to operativerelationship with respect to the detector whenever the active shuttlechanges.

, In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

HAROLD L. BLANCHARD.

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